Wicomico-FOP deal now dead over contract dispute

Negotiations over death and disability benefits for Wicomico County deputies have come to a head.

Now, four months after county officials and the Sheriff’s Office reached an agreement to establish a fund to pay officers or their families who have been disabled or killed in the line of duty, officials with the local Fraternal Order of Police representing the office said the contract verifying the changes has now been completely invalidated.

“The bottom line, we as deputies said, instead of going to a private outside agency, we said ‘Alright county, we’re going to let you manage it’,” said Sgt. Martin Fisher, the newly elected president of FOP Lodge 111. “However, to me, at crunch time is when we all failed. This has been going on since 1992 and here we are in 2014.”

At the heart of the matter is a federal provision limiting how police officers and other public employees can receive Social Security benefits.

Originally. the contract set up a joint death and disability fund for Wicomico County deputies, with the county making a $900,000 investment into the fund.

Under the original agreement, officers, who would be putting 1.4 percent of each paycheck into the fund, would receive 66.7 percent of their pay based on their three highest-paying years of employment if they were injured in the line of duty and placed on disability leave. That amount would not be subjected to taxes and would be dependent on their continuing to be placed on disability leave without working at a secondary job.

Additionally, families of officers killed in the line of duty would also receive $500,000 from the county.

However, Fisher said a key provision was still being discussed, as the FOP wanted the disability benefit to extend for the entirety of affected police officers’ lives if their disability was severe enough that they could not return to work.

While Wicomico deputies could collect Social Security when they reach the eligible age, the Windfall Elimination Provision passed by the Social Security Administration had recently changed the terms by which public employees can receive Social Security benefits.

The provision was made to meant to reduce Social Security benefits for employees working “for an employer who does not withhold Social Security taxes from your salary, such as a government agency or an employer in another country, any pensions you get based on that work may reduce your Social Security benefits,” according to the administration’s website.

As public employees, Fisher said the provision will also affect them and, with his own calculations based on the administration’s new formula, his Social Security benefits “would go from $2,000 and some change a month to $299 a month when I turn age 67.”

Two sides at stark odds

With the prospect that county deputies who are injured in the line of duty could potentially receive significantly less from their Social Security benefits as well as losing their disability benefits when reaching their mid-60s, Fisher said the county sent them an offer the FOP did not agree to and believed was still up for negotiation.

The county has countered, saying in a statement from County Executive Rick Pollitt’s office that the FOP is not honoring its original agreement and incorrectly stating that negotiations were still ongoing.

“The FOP incorrectly refers to the disability benefit as a pension, the benefit discussed was always a disability benefit trust,” County Executive Rick Pollitt’s statement reads.

The county contends that after the FOP ratified an agreement with the county on Feb. 25, officials sent documents to the FOP outlining the details of the benefit trust, which included the fact the benefit “is capped at the full social security retirement age for the affected employee.”

Fisher said when the two sides reached an agreement, it was with the understanding the talks about the Social Security provision were still under negotiation and the county’s inclusion of the provision in the contractual agreement was not part of the original agreement.

The county disagreed, saying the disability benefit’s tenets were not up for further negotiation after the FOP reached its initial agreement with the county.

“The FOP contends that the disability payment should continue for the affected employee’s entire life,” the statement reads. “The County maintains that this additional benefit and the associated increased actuarial risk is not what was bargained for in the negotiations and is not a policy the County will support.”

The FOP has filed for the dispute to be taken to arbitration, which the county also contends is invalid as, “Since there is no agreement, there is no authority to have this dispute determined through arbitration,” according to Pollitt’s statement.

In a statement written to Fisher by Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis, Lewis said he sides with the FOP’s findings.

“During the bargaining process, the County never mentioned or negotiated with the FOP, a provision limiting disability pension benefits to the age when a member becomes eligible for Social Security benefits,” Lewis’ statement reads.

Fisher says he still sees hope to a resolution reached between the two sides before taking it to arbitration or litigation, saying that talks between the county and the FOP are ongoing.

“For us to take a shot at Rick Pollitt is critical,” said Fisher. “However, Rick has been good for the deputies in the way of supporting this all along.”

County councilman Bob Culver said the council would not comment on the issue.